


(Literally) Falling for you

by adjit



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, MLValentineExchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-14
Packaged: 2018-05-20 12:09:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6005377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adjit/pseuds/adjit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir falls for Ladybug again and again every day, but some days it's less metaphorical and more 'of off a roof.' Blushing is a powerful weapon.</p><p>A gift for @fluffyfuzzball on tumblr for the ML Valentine's Exchange!</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Literally) Falling for you

Tikki sighs as Marinette starts pacing again. The kwami steels herself for another round of calming the girl down. She briefly considers letting Marinette tire herself out, but she’s afraid Marinette might actually wear a rut into her floorboards with the non-stop pacing.

“Marinette, I thought you decided you were going to give Adrien another poem,” Tikki supplies helpfully.

“But Tikki! I’ve already done that. I have to be original if I want to be noticed. And if I’m going to ask him… going to ask him…” Marinette stutters to a stop, her face coloring just at the thought of asking him to be her valentine.

“Ask him to be your valentine!” Tikki finishes for her. Instead of thanking the kwami for her help, Marinette groans.

“How can I possibly ask him to be my valentine if I can’t even say it when he’s _not in the room_?” She stops her pacing just in time to fall dramatically onto her chaise. When she doesn’t move, Tikki flies over and pats her head softly.

“It’ll be okay, Marinette. You can do it! You face villains every day, and you never let it get to you. You can face one boy.”

“He’s not just a boy,” Marinette whines, voice muffled against the cushion. “He’s _Adrien Agreste_ and I only just learned how to speak in front of him. But asking him to…” Marinette cuts herself off with a squeak.

Tikki giggles. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Marinette asks, sitting up suddenly. “He could reject me in front of everyone. And then- and then he could call the cops on me for being a stalker, and Chloe would convince her father to set bail so high that I can never leave jail, and then all of Paris could be destroyed by an akuma while I’m stuck in the jail cell! And then the _entire world_ would fall to absolute chaos!”

“I don’t think that Adrien would ever call the cops on you,” Tikki replies sincerely, moving to make direct eye contact with her charge.

“…But he could still reject me,” she sighs, picking up a pillow and shoving her face into it. “And that’s bad enough,” she continues, words muffled once again.

Tikki tugs at the edge of the pillow until Marinette relinquishes it, and immediately flies in to nuzzle Marinette’s face. The girl brings her hands up to her kwami, relishing the comfort.

“You could just give him chocolate. You’re already making some for Alya and Nino. There’s no way he’ll reject chocolate.”

“It’s a start, I guess,” says Marinette, morose.

“Better than giving him nothing,” chirps Tikki, zipping up and away. Marinette sits up straighter, tracking Tikki around the room with her eyes. She’s about to change the subject when Tikki suddenly stops and turns back to Marinette, a curious look in her eyes.

Marinette is immediately wary. She would never call Tikki a troublemaker, but… maybe meddler is a better word. She usually let things fall out as they did, but Marinette has learned that Tikki can be devious in her own adorable way.

“What are you getting for Chat Noir?” the kwami asks, surprising Marinette completely.

“Chat…? Why would I get him anything?”

“Because you’re Ladybug and he’s Chat Noir! You’re Paris’s famous superhero duo, and one of you can’t go without the other! Are you really not going to get him anything?”

“I’ve never gotten him anything in the past…” Marinette says with a frown.

“Then you definitely should, to make up for it!”

“But Tikki, he’ll just take it as encouragement to flirt even more with me. And if he does it any more during battle, I’m going to break something other than a possessed item.” Despite her words, Marinette deflates a bit at the look Tikki gives her. Chat is her friend, and she usually jumps on the chance to give her friends gifts. She doesn’t doubt that what she just said is true, and yet she’s hesitating.

“Maybe you should turn the tables on him,” Tikki suggests with a giggle.

“Turn the tables…?” Marinette questions, trying to imagine the scenario. She’s pretty sure he would just laugh if she tried to be overtly flirty. But then again, on the off chance that he can’t dish it nearly as well as he can take it… “Tikki! I’ll ask him to be my valentine!”

“What?”

“You said to turn the tables! He’ll probably just laugh it off, but if he doesn’t he’ll finally know how I feel. And then I can ask him again, as a friend. It’d be nice to have a valentine, even if it’s that mangy cat.”

Tikki is quiet for a few moment before she laughs softly. “I think that sounds great, Marinette.”

“And it’ll be nice to have a valentine for once, even if he doesn’t like me that way.”

Tikki covers her mouth, trying to keep her laughter down. Marinette, already caught up in planning, doesn’t notice.

 

Ladybug toys with the ribbon on the package in her lap, her nerves acting up despite the courage the red and black suit and mask usually granted her. She tries to keep herself from fidgeting as she looks over the rooftops of Paris, but she can’t help her legs kicking in a nervous beat against the facade of the building, the edge pressing into her thighs every time she brings her heel against concrete. She stares towards the sunset, eyes sliding past the pink and orange fanfare in the sky because she’s searching for black and green. Another moment passes and she almost chooses to ditch the gift before Chat can see it and pretend this entire idea never even occurred to her, but the decision is made for her as she hears the soft footfalls that signal her partner’s arrival.

She takes a deep breath, stilling her legs and leaning back nonchalantly. She glances over her shoulder, sending a smile at her partner as he saunters towards her and calls out a greeting.

“Well little Lady, what’s a pretty girl like you doing on a rooftop like this?”

Ladybug almost rolls her eyes at how he immediately starts up with the flirting, but instead she smirks and shoots back, “Waiting for a no good alley cat. He’s almost late.”

“Well, if the kitty’s left you waiting, he obviously doesn’t deserve you. How about you ditch him for me instead?” he replies easily, sliding into the spot next to her without missing a beat. He kicks his legs out over the edge as she laughs, and when he catches her gaze with a goofy smile she shakes her head and finally allows herself the eyeroll she had been holding back.

“I could _never_ ,” she replies dramatically.

“And that’s why I don’t deserve you,” he says simply, and she wonders why she had ever been nervous about anything that had to do with Chat. Almost as if he could tell what she was thinking about, his eyes finally land on the package in her hands. “A gift from an admirer? They’re a few days early for Valentine’s Day.”

“Not from, Chat, _for_ ,” she says, willing away the small blush she could feel creeping onto her cheeks.

He doesn’t react for a moment, his features freezing in place, and she almost lets herself believe he’s jealous. But then his grin grows and he’s as easy going as always.

She’s _not_ disappointed.

Or, well, being disappointed because you confirmed that someone wasn’t _actually_ interested was a normal thing.

Right?

Definitely. She’s just a normal amount of disappointed.

And no more.

Definitely.

“So there’s someone who has won my lady’s affections?” teases Chat, crossing his arms over his chest. Ladybug has to stop herself from snapping in response. It would be unfair to take her frustrations at herself out on him.

And besides, she has  _nothing to be frustrated about because she wasn’t disappointed, shut up brain._

Anyway.

“Some of them, perhaps,” she answers cryptically, and she watches as his eyes widen comically.

“Still so coy! You’ll be sure to break his heart if you give it to him with lines like that. You need to be more romantic.”

“I don’t know that I should be taking advice from _you_ for this, Chat.”

“Me-ouch! Harsh. I’ll have you know I give only the best advice.”

Ladybug gives him a dubious look, her grin amused but obviously unconvinced. “Such as?”

“You have to set the mood! Find a place with a view, make sure the lighting is just right. It has to be low, obviously, it’s more romantic that way, but if it gets too dark he won’t be able to see your pretty face.”

“Uh-huh. What else, then?”

“Normally I’d recommend wearing something light and pretty, but a skintight suit can work too. Maybe a bit sexier than I would recommend for a first date, but hey, if you think you can pull it off…”

She smacks him for that, and his snickering tells her he obviously feels no remorse for the comment. “I pull off polkadots better than you could ever hope.”

“Hey, no objections here,” he manages through his chuckles, holding his hands up in a pacifying gesture. “But if you really want to woo a guy, I would recommend not hitting him as you give him his gift. Although he might be into that, who knows?”

“ _Chat,_ ” she warns, mildly horrified.

“I’m just saying-”

“Stop talking,” she commands, covering her face with her hands.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry LB. Forgive me?” he asks, grabbing her wrists and slowly pulling them away from her face. Her hands fall away to reveal the blush she was trying to hide, and though she frowns at Chat, his pleading expression breaks her resolve easily.

“Fine,” she relents, though she looks out to the sunset again instead of meeting his eyes.

“One last piece of advice, then,” he continues, and though his voice is softer now she still refuses to look back at him.

“Hm?”

“Keep that blush on your face, and he’ll be blown away.”

Ladybug finally turns back to Chat, and his expression is one she can’t quite parse before it splits into a stupid grin and she’s shoving him away and standing with a sigh of exasperation. “That blush was because you- you- you stupid cat!” she exclaims, but the annoyance is tinted with a hint of fondness that she just can’t chase away. Still, she purses her lips in disapproval as she turns the package still gripped in her hand.

Her partner hops to his feet with a smug grin. “Soooo, does that mean you’re not going to take my advice?”

“Not all of it, but…. Instead,” she pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath and watching Chat’s head tilt in confusion, “here.” She holds the box out to him, looking up at him through her lashes and allowing the blush to bloom on her cheeks. She could have pushed it down and away, she had _wanted_ to initially, but if she was going to ignore all of his other advice, well. Following this one wouldn’t hurt.

She counts the seconds as they tick by with nothing except Chat’s head tilting even further in confusion. Understanding hits him like a freight train, and Ladybug has to fight to keep the smile off of her face as his eyes grow comically large.

“Will you be my valentine, Chat?” she asks, grin finally winning out.

“Be your- but you- I mean, you said- and I…” He’s staring at her, looking like his brain had imploded as he stumbles through attempt after attempt to complete a sentence. His face is rapidly reddening under his mask, and surprise and _satisfaction_ course through Ladybug’s veins. She wasn’t expecting him to be so affected, but she finds she _really_ doesn’t mind it.

She takes a step forward, still holding the gift out, and he takes a flustered step back.

Right off the edge of the roof.

For a moment, everything is silent and still, and she watches him drop in wide eyed disbelief. But his reflexes kick in before hers, and his baton is extended and stopping his descent before she even reaches for her yoyo. The baton continues extending, and Chat vaults himself to the next roof over before retracting it and putting it away.

Ladybug frowns, trying to catch his attention, but he’s looking determinedly in the other direction. “Chat!” she calls.

He doesn’t turn around, so she finally grabs her yoyo from its place at her side. She takes a few steps back and carefully tucks the present to her side before running forward and throwing herself off the edge of the building, a graceful foil to the flailing descent of the other hero a moment ago. She throws her yoyo and catches herself, transitioning the free fall into a smooth swing to the rooftop where Chat is standing.

Ladybug lands next to him, a question already on the tip of her tongue. But one look at him has her swallowing back any words. He’s covering the bottom half of his face with his hand, and he keeps turning away from her as she tries to look at him, but despite his best attempts it’s still very obvious to her that he is blushing furiously and is completely embarrassed. She opens her mouth to say something, but instead a giggle escapes. He turns to her, utter mortification evident on his face, but she can’t stop laughing. Instead of saying anything, she just holds out the gift, smiling at him through her laughter.

He looks incredulous as he takes the gift, finally dropping his hand from his face so he could cradle the box gently. “You still want, after… that?” Chat gestures vaguely off the side of the building, and Ladybug’s laughter gets just a little louder.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from my kitty,” she says with a wicked smile, once she has controlled her laughter. “You think something like flailing off the side of a building is the worst thing I’ve seen you do?”

He doesn’t answer, instead tugging nervously at the end of the ribbon. He glances up, and Ladybug gives him a nod. With the go ahead, he begins to unwrap the package. She watches how carefully he treats the box, as if it were fragile. Inside were just chocolates, the same thing she’d made for Alya, Adrien, and Nino, but they came with a heavier connotation this time.

When Chat looks up from the gift, his eyes shine with such emotion that Ladybug is taken aback. He cradles the chocolate as if it were precious and smiles at her. The air leaves her lungs in a rush, leaving her struggling for breath. Since when had he been able to smile like that?

“Thank you,” he says quietly, and his voice is not teasing, or flirting. It’s just raw sincerity, and Ladybug can only respond with a sharp intake of breath to replace the air she had lost moments ago.

She can feel the blush taking its place back on her face, but though she actively tries to fight it this time, it’s a losing battle. But she’s not flustered to the point of falling off of buildings, and Chat is still very, very red, and those facts ground her enough to allow her to speak.

“So, you never answered my question. Chat Noir, will you be my valentine?”

He makes an incoherent noise in the back of his throat and nods vigorously.

It’s cute.

The thought worms its way into Ladybug’s head without her permission, but once it comes to her attention, she can’t dismiss it. Chat could dish it out all he wanted, but when it came down to it, he can’t take it _at all_. And his flustered state is absolutely adorable.

And getting worse the more she reacts to it. She stops fighting back the blush and smiles at Chat with everything she’s feeling, and the look on his face tells her that he’s caught somewhere between heaven and hell, and there’s no way he’s recovering any time soon.

She laughs lightly and walks over to her poor partner, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looks at her with wide eyes, and she can’t help when her happy smile turns devilish. She stands up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek before whispering in his ear.

“Happy early Valentine’s Day, Chat.”

She backs up immediately and waves cheekily before swinging away. She pauses on the next rooftop to glance back and see the effect of her work.

Chat is crouched over with his head in his hands, but the ridiculous smile on his face soothes any worry that she’s overstepped a boundary. She accidentally catches his gaze, so she blows one last kiss before taking off for real.

Several rooftops later, she realizes that she never clarified that she was asking platonically, but the thought doesn’t jar her as much as she expects. She only finds herself planning something else to do for when Valentine’s day _actually_ rolls around.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: @fluffyfuzzball did a FOLLOW UP COMIC! And it's super cute, please look: http://fluffyfuzzball.tumblr.com/post/143702648293/mini-comic-sequel 
> 
> You will not regret it :3c


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